One reason I do like this game is it is so simple and not massively nerdy and life-consuming like many other MMORPG games I daren't mention.

But because of this, it's the social aspect of the game that keeps me playing. This is why it seems INSANE (in the membrane) to me that there aren't better social aspects to the game.

We've heard time and time again that the reason that there isn't a better chat function is limitations to Flash and bandwidth. I honestly think this is bull and the main reason is that there just isn't a better chat function!

Imagine if there was a world chat, various rooms, more tavern games (with high-score tables!), a decent mail system that actually made you want to use it... it would certainly keep people playing and from getting bored. It's all about sticky!

But I, and numerous others, have mentioned this until we're blue in the face, and nothing has and probably ever will come of it.

Oh, and people quitting because of the so-called 'banhammer'? I think not.

I'm not sure how to make the forum more effectively prominent than it is now though. Perhaps a weekly message about it in your mailbox when you're working through L1-10??
What would have brought YOU* to the forums sooner?

Well, I'm a fool for forums, so I just wandered here on my own and I do in pretty much every game I play for more than a week. I don't think there's any way to bring someone like me to the forums faster.

Things that would help with the rest of the game community though--

Improved guides maybe? Or at least guilds encouraging their new players to use the existing guides by linking them in mails or on the guild announcements?

Awarding mushrooms for your first post on the forums would be tempting to a lot of people, though I'm not sure the company is ready to do the work to set up tracking for that.

But back to the original topic-- I'm not sure the threat of banning really does much to discourage breaking the TOS in one way or another. People who multi will prolly continue to do so and either do it smarter or just not sweat it when they do get caught. I haven't been in S&F long enough to even venture a guess on how much that sort of thing happens here, but I've seen it enough in other games to be pretty convinced people don't generally care too much if they get caught in their bad behavior.

the people that i play with and those that i know of that play, all play during downtime periods of other big MMOs or downtime at work, I know of quite a few people that have left only because they left the MMO they were playing that allowed for that kind of downtime. People will come and go for all kinds of reasons, but that's something I have noticed in my own little circle of friends.

as far as chat yes if your in a large active guild it could be fun and sufficent ... however if yorua new player or your a moderate player in anything but a top ten guild with all active players player interaction is more akin to a desert waisteland

if however there were some sort of global chat on servers of a sort it would in fact add an entirely new element to the game,give people real time coversation . spice up guild wars , and even make it easier for new players to get advice or find like minded people etc

I had suggested some sort of beer garden/town hall/inn like environment to foster that type of chat..except not on the forums here, but an actual in game area.

*shrug*

I would like to see a tower defense kind of thing, where your guildmates could play along. Winning the TD game would give access to an additional shop which sells buffs (but not equipment) which apply to dungeons.

Unfortunately, I will be quitting camp because I don't see a way to play competitively without spending more on mushrooms than I would spend on a full-fledged MMO.

I have friends who still play but most of them have left for similar reasons.